President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday that Serbia will not vote for sanctions at the special session of the UN General Assembly but will vote in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“For everything about violations of territorial integrity, Serbia joins in and for sanctions, Serbia will not join in or at least not for a while longer, for the few more days that I am de facto president. Once you elect someone else, that’s a different story,” Vucic said.

Presidential elections have been called for April 3.

“There were nine votes yesterday. We did not join in for eight but we did for one,” he said commenting the UN General Assembly special session called over Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

Vucic said that the pressure on the Serbian authorities was huge.

“I had talks with officials of a number of countries late into the night and all day today. So much for the great respect for the independence and rights of countries to decide for themselves,” he said adding that he believes official Belgrade will resist the pressure and avoid the wrath of the powerful. “We will try to save and defend the country without losing face,” he said.